"And then, she wrote back saying 'I didn't learn anything.'"
"Ho ho, she certainly does sound like a silly pony."
Within the crystal world, specifically inside the castle, Celestia is sitting comfortably in a chair. She tells of her subjects' adventures to her new friend, King Maximillian Acorn, who sits in his own chair across from her. King Acorn, was once the ruler of Mobotropolis, a once beautiful city that has now been turned into the most pollutant place in Mobius. The outcome of the city was the result of Julian Kintobor when he overthrowned Acorn and began his world domination as Robotnik. Max told Celestia all of this and continued to inform her that his cell was this very world they're in, a place called 'the Void'. Regretfully, he also told that there was no known way out without the help of an outside source with strength to overcome the powerful wind currents; and if one cannot escape in time, they will be dependent on the void for them to survive.
It was a tough pill to swallow for the majestic pony. She just had to wait it out and hoped that somepony was planning a way to get her out. She was used to such situations before, but she could never completely get over the suspense. Acorn could see this and began to get her mind off of it by asking her to talk a bit about herself.
Its been awhile now and Celestia has been thinking of pretty much anything but her current predicament.
"These bearers of harmony sound like a charming group of young ladies" Max said while he calmed his laughter down, "but by the sound of things, they only became Equestria's defenders within the last few years. Tell me, how were you able to avoid Julian and his army from taking over? They must have attacked at least a decade ago."
The alicorn princess folded her arms and began rubbing her chin, "A decade ago? I'm not familiar with any army or an individual named Julian with attempts at overthrowning Equestria. I assume the barrier to the kingdom helped us from any confrontations."
"You mean you saw the attack coming?"
"No no" she corrected him. "You see, a barrier has been protecting us for thousands of years from any outside source at interacting with us; making it as though nopony was there to begin with. The same goes the other way around for us upon them."
"So you secluded yourself from the world by avoiding it all together," Acorn frowned at that "doesn't the wonders of the world make you want to learn all their is outside the bubble you're in?"
Celestia formed an authoritative posture as she explained "The overview of the possibilities are tempting, but I have a responsibility to my subjects and a duty to protect them. It's true that we may have some mischief makers within the country, but the protection we have from the forces outside help make this a peaceful, perfect society."
Max seemed distraught by the idea. He placed an elbow on each of his armrests, folded his hands up in the air, laid his head upon them and closed his eyes. "Celestia" he calmly announced, "do you know what the word 'utopia' means?"
She knew it meant a 'peaceful place;' but for the sake of argument, she decided to humor him.
"It's a special word that actually has a double meaning. The first meaning describes a perfect society." His eyes open, recalling his past "At one point of my life, I striven for such a thing."
"You see my wife, Alicia, was the world to me. Charming, clever, ...beautiful... she made me feel like I could overcome any issues that laid before me, ...except her own."
The room was silent for a second for Max to recollect himself.
"She passed away from the result of a war incident, leaving not only me but our daughter, Sally. ...the passing left me a bit hysterical, the thought of it happening again with my daughter frightened me. Frightened me so much, that I was determined to protect her by making a utopia for her to live in."
"I thought, if I could rule all of society, then we could not worry about conflicts and invasions from other nations." His face was full of regret "It was a pitiful thought, but sorrow, fear and ever the anger of that event, fueled my ambitions to fulfill the idea. I began searching my castle's archives for something, anything that might have knowledge at achieving such authority; but instead, I eventually found documents on an ancient tribe leader that I immediately identified to."
"A man named Pachacamac was once a ruler of an ancient tribe called the Echidnas. He was a decent and fair ruler that cared deeply for both his people and his family. His kingdom was a peaceful one, but despite the friendly society; they had enemies. Eventually, an assassin assaulted the throne and killed Pachacamac's wife in the process. This loss struck Pachacamac pretty hard; all he had left was his daughter, Tikal. Pachacamac was then determined to avoid this tragedy to happen again to his daughter so he on making the country a utopia by following under one ruler. How he planned to accomplish such a feat was by using some powerful weapon of some sort to conquer the land. Ultimately, his strive for power killed him by the very weapon he planned to use, and left his daughter alone with an uncontrollable weapon, which unfortunately, she sacrificed herself to stop that very weapon. The tale then ended with it stating that 'in the end, Pachacamac was then able to finally achieve his own utopia as well as his daughter was to achieve her own.' It was then, at that moment, I realized he was doomed from the moment he decided to make his kingdom perfect. No matter how much land or followers he had, his desire for an utopia would always be out of reach."
Max refocused his attention back to his listener "Have you figured out what the second meaning is yet?" Celestia was actually too focused on the story to give much thought on the word "It means; of not, imaginary, illusion. A utopia is a perfect society that does not exist." The king repositioned himself in his chair "What I'm getting at with this story Celestia, is that we can never achieve a perfect society. There will become times in which we can't provide the benefits our subjects want from us. They'll need to fend for themselves instead of counting on us for help all the time. We're in a position that gives our subjects a direction for them to follow and a pillar to count on, but if we disappear along with the Elements of Harmony, do you think the people can handle themselves?"
The majestic mare pondered over the actions of the ponies over the course of the years. They do cooperate together at times; like creating hurricanes to transport water to Cloudsdale and even cleaning up winter for the coming spring. The answer seemed clear that they could but then she started to remember the more drastic moments that have happened. They panicked in terror at a swarm of hungry Parasprites, hid in fear from a zebra, screamed at a three-headed dog gnawing on their houses, fainted at a stampede of bouncing baby bunnies and even had to obey the orders of an Alicorn Amulet wearing magician. Those were situations that could've probably be solved if they banded together and tackled the situation as one, but ultimately one of the bearers of harmony had to reconcile the situation. As much as she hated to admit it, her ponies really are lost without somepony to lead them.
Perhaps theirs a way to have them fend for themselves?
Over the dirt field of Rambling Rock Ridge, a group of ponies trotted at a slow-defeated pace over the plains. Applejack was leading the pack again while the distraught Rarity and the saddened Fluttershy followed her, leaving the irritated Dash at the end of the group.
"I feel just awful, leaving that castle empty-handed" Rarity grieved aloud.
"I know, but we can't keep Twilight waiting any longer" AJ answered back "We'll just hafta tell her that we couldn't find anything there."
"Won't she be upset?" Fluttershy had some worry in her concern.
"She'd be disappointed, but it's better then having her start to worry about us." AJ didn't like that excuse, but she had to mare up and admit defeat; even if it meant tarnishing her stubborn pride. Speaking about stubborn, "How you holding up back there Dash?"
"He's just a stupid pin cushion!"
"Great great, at least one of us isn't taking this lost too hard" she murmured to herself. The country mare wasn't about to give up though. She kept jumbling the idea on where the Chaos Emerald could've been hidden and soon began at resting her eyes while she walked. "We check every nook an' cranny of that castle and there was no gem or jewel to be found. Although, that castle does have more secrets than granny does for her Zap Apple Jam recipe. Maybe we missed someplace? No no, that can't be. Rarity would've picked up a signal from the gem if it were in a secret room of some kind. If I put faith in her assumption, then the Chaos Emerald can't be in the castle at all. That pedestal and column Twilight spoke of was proof enough that it was there, so that means that som-AAAHHH"
The girls broke out from their inner thoughts to witness Applejack falling down a hole in the dirt road. They all cried her name as they ran to grab her, but she faded into the shadows of the pit before they could get to her. With a thud and a 'oof' coming from the hole, Rarity called out "APPLEJACK, CAN YOU HEAR ME?"
"Yeah" her voice echoed off the walls "I hear ya."
"ARE YOU OKAY? CAN YOU GET OUT?" replied Fluttershy.
"A bit bruised, but nothing I can't handle. Getting out might be a problem though. I can't see an inch in front of my muzzle."
Dash groaned to this new hindrance "HANG ON!" she yelled then flew over to the unicorn and began to lift her off the ground "Come on Rarity, you too Shy."
"Wh-what do you think your doing" Rarity stuttered at the intrusion of personal space.
"I can't see where I'm flying in the dark, so somepony needs to light the way" Dash then looks at Fluttershy "and somepony is going to have to carry you out while I carry Applejack."
The highly pampered unicorn detested the thought of being down-graded to a common tool, but what other options do they have? The trio slowly descends into the pit and Rarity begins making her horn illuminate a light cornflower blue color aura to guide them. The trip took less then a minute before they could see the bottom with Applejack looking up at them. She was standing in a corridor that looked like it was dug out wide enough for a small group to walk through with enough space for them to avoid feeling restricted.
Once the team touched the ground, a sudden flare shot from the living lantern's horn. It startled everypony but none more so then Rarity; her entire body shook from a familiar vibration. "It's here" she said in a monotone voice, too fixed on this feeling.
"Here?" Applejack questioned "What's here?"
"The Chaos Emerald."
"Here!?!?" she questioned again.
Rarity didn't answered as she ran deeper into the tunnel with her friends following close behind. She made twists and turns at the branches and forks of the road; all while her horn was shining in the darkness. Eventually, Rarity came to a stop at a wall and began to frantically pacing back and forth, focusing passed the wall intensely. "Why would it be here?" Rainbow Dash asked the concentrated unicorn "Twilight said that it would be at the castle."
"I know she said that, but I can tell it's somewhere close by" Rarity told. She made a few quick flinches before she continued her sprint through the tunnels. She hurried faster through the dark tunnels, the source of this signal were mere steps away from her. After much hassle she came across something; a large furred individual standing on two legs glared at her. It had sharp and jagged teeth with a strong upper body to show the threat it holds. It wore a red vest along with a black collar studded with gems around it. It glared its green eyes at the little white mare and memories began to run through the creature's mind.
"You again! You not welcome here. Get out. NOW!" it barked at her.
Rarity began to recall memories as well. She was looking at a Diamond Dog. At one point in her life, they tried to use her as a tool to find gems for their own purpose. Kinda ironic that her friends were using her not to long ago as a tool as well, but unlike now, the dogs didn't respect her and treated the unicorn like a mule.
Rarity refused the thought of leaving the place without something to show "We're sorry for intruding into your domain good sir," she spoke flatteringly "but we were hoping to find a gem here."
"All gems in mine are ours. GO HOME!" it roared.
The fashionistas pony was considered the Element of Generosity. She gave up possessions as well as moments of her time for others and had a way to make others do the same for her, however this canine was determined to have nothing to do her; at the very least give anything. So she decided to show some generosity instead "How about we make a deal instead. I'll show you ten locations where you can dig up a jewel. In return, I get to pick one gem to keep out of your entire collection. You get to walk away with nine gems in place of one; quite a generous offer, don't you agree?"
"But gems in mine are already ours." He recalled the hassle she was back then "We don't need you cause we can get gems ourselves."
"And I have complete faith in your abilities at finding those gems," she complemented "but wouldn't it be wonderful if you had the gems now?" she ended her statement by putting emphasis on the last word.
The impatient temptation began to rattle the dog's mind. It chewed on its nails and avoided making any eye contact at the offer before him.
The white mare's friends were wondering at the offer as well. "What the hay is she doing?" Dash whispered to Applejack "Wasn't she looking the the emerald just a second ago?"
AJ questioned the thought before she began to fit the pieces together. "Don't worry Dash," she grinned to at the revelation "she's just 'cracking the safe open' for us."
Greed eventually got the better of the dog when it eventually agreed to the offer. The next few minutes were passed quite quickly for the group; Rarity found gems with her horn, the diamond dog dug up that gem, and found ten shimmering gems in no time. "Here" the canine gave her one of the gems it dug up.
"Oh no" the unicorn sternly said "I said that I get to choose a jewel from your entire collection."
The dog gave an annoyed look at her. It then showed all of the gems it just dug up.
Her face didn't change "your entire collection."
A pause of stern looks happened before the dog retrieved a few extra gems from the left pocket of its vest.
"This isn't all of your gems"
"This is all gems I have!" the overgrown pup retorted.
An eyebrow raised on the mare and she gave a small humph. "Your not lying to me," Rarity put on a sad expression with teary eyes and the most irritating whine that brought back memories "are you?"
The dog wince at the recollection she informed. The canine showed a bit of remorse for taking up on the deal, and shuffled a hand in the right pocket of his vest to pull out a golden beryl jewel.
This was the source Rarity was drawn to. The shape match just like the one Twilight shown and it sparkled brighter then any other gems within the cavern. No doubt, this was a Chaos Emerald.
"I found gem in big building long time ago" the diamond dog informed. "Building look fancy, so me thinks their jewels there, but only found shiny one" the dog placed the Emerald in Rarity's hand, biding farewell to the little trinket.
The other girls glomped onto the unicorn, overjoyed that they found the emerald they thought that was gone for good. "Come-on girls," Rarity said "we've wasted enough time as it is. The others are waiting for us" she told before taking one more look at the shimmering gem.